From Our Correspondent
Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has underlined need on retrofitting works on the Northeast’s lake place-Neer Mahal.
According to sources, an Eco Tourist Lodge would be constructed in Dombur, one of the splendid tourist destinations of the state.
The Ministry of Tourism has already approved Rs. 336.17 lakh for the overall development of Dombur and of which Rs. 268.94 lakh has already been released.
Tripura Tourism Development Corporation Lt (TTDC) in association with India Tourism will set up a three-star category hostel at Rajarshree Yatri Niwas near Circuit House, official sources confirmed here on Friday. Indian Tourism Development Corporation has already prepared a detailed project report (DPR) for the Rs. 60 crore-project.
Besides, the Ministry of Tourism has already approved a proposal to establish a Hotel Management Institute (HMI) at Anandanagar, outskirt the state capital.
The developments came to light at a review meeting of tourism held at Conference hall of the Civil Secretariat held on Thursday. The meeting was chaired by the Chief Minister.
Face-lift plan for Neer Mahal and Rudra Sagar also came up for discussion in the meeting. In the meeting, it was informed that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Tourism during its last visit had exhorted the TTDC authority to prepare a detailed project report. TTDC authority also informed that a plan had been envisaged to form a Buddhist tourist circuit incorporating Pilak and Mahamoni. It is expected that the DPR of the Rs. 8 project will be completed by December and then it will be submitted to the Ministry.
During the current financial year (2011-12), the TTDC has prepared ten tourism related project with an estimated cost of Rs. 92 crore. The plans include two mega tourist destination projects- Agartala and Udaipur.
Agartala airport to be air hub:The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has undertaken a plan to make the airport here an air hub to expand connectivity between India’s northeast and neighbouring countries, a Tripura minister said recently.
“The AAI has sought 300 acres of land to build a new terminal building, expand the runway and construct additional infrastructure at the Agartala airport to make it an air hub,” Transport Minister Manik Dey said quoting an AAI communique.
“The air hub scheme was planned to improve connectivity among the northeastern states, the rest of India and adjacent countries.”
Speaking in the assembly, he said: “The AAI has sought 300 acres of land from the state government free of cost. The state government has told the civil aviation ministry, AAI and others to acquire the land making necessary payments.”
The Agartala airport or Singerbhil Airport, located 15 km southeast of Agartala, was built by Tripura’s last king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur (1923-1947) in 1938-39. (With inputs from IANS)